A Melrose Market–Type Spot Coming Soon to Bainbridge Island

The Market at Pleasant Beach will have a satellite Hitchcock Deli, wine bar, and coffee shop.

The owner of the Pleasant Beach Village, John Jacobi, is so taken with Capitol Hill's Melrose Market that he's been busy fashioning a similar space on the island. It's called The Market at Pleasant Beach, located on Lynwood Center Road on Bainbridge Island, applying the same collective format to a newly constructed space.

The Pleasant Beach Village complex already has an inn, an event space, and a brand-new restaurant, the Beach House, on its upper level. Now the street level is filling in with a mix of retailers and food outfits. The newest edition is The Market, a 2,600-square-foot, industrially nautical space with whitewashed wood, pine rafters, and metal fixtures. Along the rear wall, there's a row of five stalls, each barely big enough to park a Smart Car inside.

But instead of a small European vehicle, you'll find an offshoot of Bainbridge's Salmon Canyon Cafe, which will offer brunch, lunch, and a small list of dinner options, like roasted half chickens and prime rib. And Buckwheat and Broccoli, a new island creperie serving gluten-free sweet and savory options. But we are most excited about the stall that will hold the new offshoot of Winslow Way's Hitchcock Deli.

Hitchcock chef-owner Brendan McGill, Food and Wine’s People’s Best New Chef, says his popular deli space in downtown Winslow will still handle the production—ie all the smoking, curing, and braising. But his team will transport these wares to the south end location daily. The stall will have similar offerings to its downtown sister shop, like its charcuterie, perfectly simple pastrami sandwiches, BLTs, and soups.

McGill says doing another deli isn’t a “big, scary commitment,” like opening a new restaurant. If anything this is an experimental business model for him. He is currently in talks with leasing a space in Georgetown to start a production deli there, with hopes for other outfits in outlying areas in the future. We’ll also see McGill at a booth at this year's Capitol Hill Block Party, so our side of the water can finally get a taste of that famed Hitchcock bacon—health codes currently prevent McGill from selling his meats across county lines.

The market space also includes a wine bar, and a coffee shop called Boathouse Coffee which will soon be selling lattes and pastries. The copper-topped Suzanne Maurice wine bar plans on having snack items like local cheeses and breads, along with a wide range of bottle selections and its own separate bar area. The building's main space will seat about 60 people at high cafe tables with stools.

The wine bar is a little further along in its buildout and has high hopes of a July 6 opening. General manager Eric Andersen, has a mid-July date in mind for the market stalls and coffee shop.

To Islanders, this space is a welcome new dining and shopping option. For out of towners and Seattleites, it's a likely addition to a day-trip itinerary. Keep tabs on the progress of the Pleasant Beach Village on Facebook.